All food has emotional value to me, but nothing makes me feel all sorts of nostalgic, ecstatic, and just a wee bit melancholy than sinigang. The aromatic smell of coming home to a simmering pot of sinigang after a school day. My teenage irritation with getting asked to help wash and prep the vegetables. Adding an exorbitant amount of tamarind mix to the pot because I liked it super tangy. Picking chili peppers from our backyard in Bicol for my grandma, who liked sinigang with a spicy kick.
My heart is full. Thank you to my Filipino mothers who have made this dish for me with love. Happy Mother’s Day!
Ingredients
3/4 lb of pork belly (you can get this bulk at Costco, too)
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup green beans, can be frozen!
1 cup okra, can also be frozennn! 🙂
1.5 lb bokchoy (or whatever comes in one package at the Asian grocery store)
1/2 packet of Sinigang sa Sampalok mix (tamarind mix)
4 cups of water
Your trusty Instant Pot mini
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot mini to Sauté mode and heat up a dollop of cooking oil.
- Sauté onions until translucent, then dump pork belly, green beans, okra, and bokchoy. Sauté everything together for just a minute. Don’t worry about cooking it down. The bokchoy will wilt down with the pressure.
- Add the 4 cups of water and 1/2 packet of the Sinigang mix.
- Turn off Sauté mode by pressing the “Cancel” button. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the value into the “Sealing” position so that pressure can start building up.
- Press “Pressure Cook” and set to 20 minutes on high. It will take a few minutes for the pressure to build up in the Instant Pot. After that, it will cook in that pressure for 20 minutes.
- Once the float valve has decompressed (dropped, and no longer raised), slowly turn the steam valve from the “Sealing” position to “Venting.” I usually do this with a wooden spoon at a distance, lol. Don’t stand near the steam or else you’re going to get burned. Don’t turn it from “Sealing” to “Venting” all at once, unless you have a rag or something over the pressure valve to avoid spewing soup all over your kitchen.
- Serve over rice!
I hope you have a wonderful week, and excited to explore more Asian recipes as we dive into Asian American and Pacific Islander month!
